Researchers in Chapman University’s Food Science Program have just published a study on pet food mislabeling. The study focused on commercial pet foods marketed for dogs and cats to identify meat species present as well as any instances of mislabeling. Of the 52 products tested, 31 were labeled correctly, 20 were potentially mislabeled, and one contained a non-specific meat ingredient that could not be verified.

“Although regulations exist for pet foods, increases in international trade and globalization of the food supply have amplified the potential for food fraud to occur,” said Rosalee Hellberg, Ph.D., and co-author on the study. “With the recent discovery of horsemeat in ground meat products sold for human consumption in several European countries, finding horsemeat in U.S. consumer food and pet food products is a concern, which is one of the reasons we wanted to do this study.”

Chicken was the most common meat species found in the pet food products. Pork was the second most common meat species detected, and beef, turkey and lamb followed, respectively. Goose was the least common meat species detected. None of the products tested positive for horsemeat.

Of the 20 potentially mislabeled products, 13 were dog food and 7 were cat food. Of these 20, 16 contained meat species that were not included on the product label, with pork being the most common undeclared meat species. In three of the cases of potential mislabeling, one or two meat species were substituted for other meat species.

In the study, DNA was extracted from each product and tested for the presence of eight meat species: beef, goat, lamb, chicken, goose, turkey, pork, and horse.

“Pet food safety was another area of concern, particularly with pet foods that are specifically formulated to address food allergies in both cats and dogs,” continued Dr. Hellberg.

The pet food industry is a substantial market in the United States. Nearly 75 percent of U.S. households own pets, totaling about 218 million pets (not including fish). On average, each household spends $500 annually on their pets, equating to about 1 percent of household expenditures. In the past five years, pet industry expenditures have increased by $10 billion, with $21 billion spent on pet food alone in 2012.

The foods developed for pets are regulated by both federal and state entities. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Veterinary Medicine regulates animal feed and pet foods. While the U.S. Department of Agriculture regulates the interstate transportation and processing of animal products, as well as the inspection of animal product imports and exports.

While a seemingly high percentage of pet foods were found to be potentially mislabeled in this study, the manner in which mislabeling occurred is not clear; nor is it clear as to whether the mislabeling was accidental or intentional and at which points in the production chain it took place.

The study was published in the journal Food Control and was completed with Chapman undergrad student Tara Okuma.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Chapman University. The original article was written by Sheri Ledbetter. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Private labels have hurt producers of less popular branded products, by reducing available shelf space in supermarkets

Melbourne, Australia (PRWEB) September 22, 2014

Pets have traditionally been an important part of Australian families. Rising discretionary incomes and the increasing number of time-poor consumers have created a gradual shift away from home mixed pet food, in favour of manufactured pet food. Furthermore, the Pet Food Production industry in Australia has begun to recover from the high volume of imports that flooded the market during the late 2010s. The Pet Food Production industry is projected to post annualised growth of 1.4% over the five years through 2014-15, to reach $1.4 billion. This includes forecast growth of 3.3% in 2014-15. Rising discretionary income levels have helped drive the premiumisation trend over the past five years. Consumers have increasingly sought out high-quality products that are good for their pets. According to IBISWorld industry Analyst Brooke Tonkin, “manufacturers have responded by releasing gourmet product varieties, such as salmon and white fish with olive oil for cats, and products of dietary benefit, such as grain free and reduced-grain dog food.”

The industry has not been immune to private-label pressures, with an increasing number of budget-conscious consumers opting for cheaper private-label products. This has benefited producers that specialise in manufacturing products for private labels. However, “private labels have hurt producers of less popular branded products, by reducing available shelf space in supermarkets,” says Tonkin. Overall, rising competition has hurt profit margins over the past five years. The industry underwent significant regulatory change in 2011, when an industry standard was introduced for the first time. Prior to this, a voluntary code of practice was in place, although many products on the market did not adhere to this code. The standard was developed in response to a number of food-induced pet deaths and disabilities, caused by inferior quality imports during 2008 and 2009. Now all products on the market, regardless of their country of production, must meet standards for manufacturing and marketing of pet food, which cover ingredients, food safety, labelling and auditing requirements.

The Pet Food Production industry is characterised by a high level of market share concentration. Major companies Mars and Nestle have solidified their share of the market over the past five years, as they benefit from having vast economies of scale and a broad range of pet food brands. Given that they are local subsidiaries of global corporations, they are boosted by the production innovation of their respective parent entities. Strong brand loyalty and promotional efforts have also enhanced the standing of the major players. Smaller firms that operate in the industry tend to specialise in niche segments, where many are able to thrive. Market share concentration is expected to increase over the next five years, with the proposed acquisition of Procter and Gamble’s (P&G) pet food brands by Mars.

Recognised as the nation’s most trusted independent source of industry and market research, IBISWorld offers a comprehensive database of unique information and analysis on every Australian industry. With an extensive online portfolio, valued for its depth and scope, the company equips clients with the insight necessary to make better business decisions. Headquartered in Melbourne, IBISWorld serves a range of business, professional service and government organisations through more than 10 locations worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.ibisworld.com.au or call (03) 9655 3886.

Attention, pet owners. Do you indulge in the perfectly reasonable habit of talking to your cats and dogs as if they could grasp human ideas? Of course you do. Does watching other people who engage in the same kind of behavior amuse you? Of course it does.

Well, Big Lots wants you to know it understands.

To prove its commitment, it is gracing you with a series of online videos that feature two professional humans—improv comedians, actually—having totally sane conversations with animals about the quality of products made for animals.

The “Pet Focus Group” campaign’s ads are bound together by the hashtag #PetsRPeople2, because it is important to maintain an appropriate sense of gravitas around such a message.

The commercials feature dogs with names like Boots and Hippo and Porkchop, and cats with names like Tabitha. The dogs act like dogs. The cats act like cats. The humans act like humans. Guess which turns and runs when asked a stupid question. Guess which asks a stupid question. Guess which licks another dog’s butt, even though that’s pretty gross.

In a rare moment that makes little sense, one human seems to struggle to keep a straight face while trying to recommend an outfit for a pooch. “I think it’s a pirate?” she says, snickering, as if dog clothes were a laughing matter.

“We realized that instead of scripting this, it would be so much more fun to let pets be pets, and get really good improvisers to react in real time to whatever those animals are doing,” says Sue Gillan, creative director at the agency, O’Keefe Reinhard & Paul. “And because you have these human facilitators in the room with the pets, they get to do the heavy lifting around uncovering the quality of the products without the event feeling commercialized. The result feels like a genuine discovery of the products.”

OKRP is the agency and pet-whispering firm that has also in the past served as Big Lots’s awkward-mom-dance choreography consultancy and millennial a cappella production company, in attempts to sell more Hostess snack cakes to humans.

Those commercials were clearly shortsighted by comparison, given the dog demographic is so vocally an underserved market for Twinkies.

New Zealand Drives Global Pet Addiction

Imagine a Singaporean company making
premium pet food from possums in the Bay of Plenty and
exporting successfully for eight years. That’s what Jerel
Kwek of Addiction Foods has accomplished, along with a
vision to improve pet nutrition globally.

While cats and
dogs around the world have fallen for Addiction, it’s only
now with a recent plant upgrade in Te Puke that Kwek can
make his natural NZ pet food available in the NZ
market.

Addiction use a selection of premium proteins and
game meats, including New Zealand possum to produce a range
of dry and raw dehydrated natural foods designed to prevent
allergies and promote long-term health in cats and
dogs.

At a time when many businesses are closing down
their New Zealand factories and moving manufacturing
offshore, Addiction Foods CEO, Jerel Kwek, is excited to be
ramping up his business following a multi-million dollar
upgrade of the NZ factory.

“We increased our capacity by
over 30 times with our factory upgrade and are now New
Zealand’s largest dry pet food plant,” says Kwek.
“With such strict regulations over manufacturing and a
clean environment, New Zealand is the best place in the
world to produce healthy, high quality pet food. We’re
thrilled to increase our production here in New
Zealand.

“Currently the majority of dry pet food is
imported from overseas and we’ve identified a big gap in
the market for good quality New Zealand made dry pet food
both here and internationally.”

Addiction Foods was
co-founded in 2002 by Kwek to offer a range of pet foods
free from by-products, fillers and preservatives to help the
thousands of cats and dogs suffering from skin and
gastro-intestinal conditions caused by allergies to
artificial preservatives and additives in their
food.

“Addiction uses a holistic and hypoallergenic pet
food formula that is completely free from harmful fillers,
additives and preservatives and only containing premium
meat, fresh vegetables and vitamins to ensure owners are
giving their pets a nutritionally balanced meal,” says
Kwek.

One of the main ingredients used in
Addiction products is possum meat, which is currently
harvested through a conservation-based programmed supported
by the New Zealand government. The programme is helping to
conserve New Zealand plant and animal life by significantly
reducing numbers of this agricultural pest.

“Possum meat
contains higher levels of Omega 3 & 6 fatty acids than other
red meats and these fatty acids are essential to pet
health,” says Kwek. “We’re pleased to work
harmoniously with the government to help reduce the numbers
of possum in New Zealand. All possums are sourced from
tuberculosis free areas and go through rigorous post mortem
testing to ensure the meat used in our products is
tuberculosis and pesticide free.”

Kwek has appointed a
NZ distributor to offer the Addiction range to Kiwi pet
owners. Auckland based Ultrapet is now selling Addiction via
pet stores, online and direct. For more information and
stockists, visit www.ultrapetfood.co.nz.

Pet and animal foods would for the
first time have to meet uniform manufacturing, processing and
packaging standards under rules proposed by the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration.

While the FDA typically gets involved in investigating
contaminated pet food that is already on the market, the newregulations are designed to prevent disease-causing bacteria and
dangerous chemicals before the poisoning occurs. The rules are
part of implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act of
2011, the biggest change to food oversight since 1938.

The safety of pet food has been in the spotlight in part
because of imported jerky treats imported from China that have
sickened 3,600 dogs and 10 cats, and killed 580, in the U.S.
since 2007. The FDA has been unable to pinpoint the cause of the
illness. The new rule, added to two others related to humans
proposed this year, would ensure that foods brought into the
U.S. from abroad meet FDA safety standards.

“Unlike safeguards already in place to protect human
foods, there are currently no regulations governing the safe
production of most animal foods,” said Daniel McChesney,
director of the FDA’s office of surveillance and compliance at
the Center for Veterinary Medicine. “There is no type of hazard
analysis. This rule would change all that.”

Humans can get sick when they encounter contaminated food
they are giving to their pets or livestock, the FDA said. When
pet food tainted with bacteria is placed on kitchen counters,
the germs can spread to meals prepared for the family. When an
animal eats feed contaminated by a chemical, the meat or milk
that comes from the animal can pass along the contaminant to
people who consume it.

The proposed rule would govern manufacturing, processing,
packing and holding of animal food and establish good
manufacturing process for each step of production. It will also
ensure that animals get enough nutrients from their regular
food, an important issue since they generally are fed from a
single source.

The proposal is subject to a 120-day comment period before
taking effect, and may change based on the public input.